68-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh separated from family in Kedarnath, reunites using Google Translate - India Today - Translation

By Ankita Chakravarti: When the 68-year-old woman, whose name has not been disclosed in the reports, set out on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath, she was excited to spend time with her family and experience the beauty of the holy site. However, things took a dramatic turn when she got separated from her loved ones in the crowded area. Unable to speak the language and feeling lost and alone, she turned to technology for help. With the aid of Google Translate, she was eventually able to communicate with strangers who helped her reconnect with her family.

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The woman hailed from Andhra Pradesh and was well-versed with Telugu but could not communicate in either Hindi or English. As per a PTI report, the woman separated from her family while returning from Kedarnath due to bad weather. The police who found her told the news agency that the woman was in a flustered state of mind in Gaurikund shuttle parking lot. The woman was not able to communicate with the police officials in either Hindi or English

"When we tried to speak to her, we realised she could not communicate either in Hindi or English. She was speaking only Telugu," Sub Inspector Ramesh Chandra Belwal told PTI. "Through gestures, we assured her that she would be reunited with her family. We offered her some refreshment and took the help of Google Translate to interpret whatever she was trying to tell us," he added.

The police then dialed the number the woman narrated in Telugu and it was discovered that her family was in Sonprayag, which is almost 8 kilometers away from Gaurikund, the place where the elderly woman was left alone. Through Google Translate, the police were able to communicate with the woman’s family, who were frantically searching for the 68-year-old woman.

Soon after the whereabouts of the woman’s family were known, the police arranged a vehicle and the woman was escorted to Sonprayag to be reunited with her family, the officer told the news agency.

How to use Google Translate to communicate

Notably, Google Translate can translate text between over 100 languages. You can type or write text into the Google Translate website or app. Google Translate will then translate the text into the language of your choice. Or if you want to communicate something to someone who does not understand your language. You can speak a phrase into the Google Translate microphone. Google Translate will then translate the phrase into the language of your choice. The Google Translate app is available for both Android and iOS devices. The app allows you to translate text, speak a phrase, take a picture of text, and even translate conversations in real time

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The word ‘vélorution’ is now in the Larousse dictionary - Canadian Cycling Magazine - Dictionary

On Wednesday, Vélorution Montréal shared the news that the word “vélorution” in the latest edition of the Larousse dictionary. According to the collective, vélorution is an international movement that supports and encourages cycling as a form of transportation, all while countering the predominance of car culture.

The Vélorution Montréal statement added that having the word in dictionary is important for two reasons. “It is not only the importance of the struggle led by millions of cyclists from the four corners of the globe, but also of their cycling victories that are multiplying at lightning speed,” it read.

Wout van Aert absolutely loved training in Montreal

“We are over the moon that Larousse has added ‘vélorution’ to their dictionary,” Mathieu Murphy-Perron, founding member of Vélorution Montréal said. “It is an important recognition to those who have struggled for decades to make our cities safer and more bike-friendly. It is becoming growingly evident that the ‘vélorution’ is in full swing and that it will not stop until road-use is more equitable between users so that more people will feel comfortable getting around on bike or on foot. Even here in Montreal, we have much work to do in order to catch up to the Amsterdams, Londons, Paris’s and Singapores of the world.”

That being said, currently only two per cent of Montreal’s roads are for cyclists, as opposed to 78 per cent for motor vehicles. The group hopes that the new addition to the dictionary will help further its cause to bring more awareness for the need increased cycling infrastructure to the city.

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‘Universal translator’ dubs and lip-syncs speakers – but Google warns against misuse - TechCrunch - Translation

Google is testing a powerful new translation service that redubs video in a new language while also synchronizing the speaker’s lips with words they never spoke. It could be very useful for a lot of reasons, but the company was upfront about the possibility of abuse and the steps taken to prevent it.

“Universal Translator” was shown off at Google I/O during a presentation by James Manyika, who heads up the company’s new “Technology and Society” department. It was offered as an example of something only recently made possible by advances in AI, but simultaneously presenting serious risks that have to be reckoned with from the start.

The “experimental” service takes an input video, in this case a lecture from an online course originally recorded in English, transcribes the speech, translates it, regenerates the speech (matching style and tone) in that language, and then edits the video so that the speaker’s lips more closely match the new audio.

So it’s basically a deepfake generator, right? Yes, but the technology that’s used for malicious purposes elsewhere has genuine utility. There are actually companies that do this kind of thing right now in the media world, redubbing lines in post-production for any of a dozen reasons. (The demo was impressive, but it must be said the tech still has a way to go.)

But those tools are professional ones being made available in a strict media workflow, not a checkbox on a YouTube upload page. Neither is Universal Translator — yet — but if it is ever to be so, Google needs to reckon with the possibility of it being used to create disinformation or other unforeseen hazards.

Manyika called this a “tension between boldness and safety,” and striking a balance can be difficult. But clearly it can’t just be released widely for anyone to use with no restrictions. Yet the benefits — for example, making an online course available in 20 languages without subtitles or re-recording — are undeniable.

“This is an enormous step forward for learning comprehension, and we’re seeing promising results in course completion rates,” Manyika said. “But there’s an inherent tension here: Some of the same underlying technology could be misused by bad actors to create deepfakes. So we built the service with guardrails to prevent misuse, and we make it accessible only to authorized partners. Soon we’ll be integrating new innovations in watermarking into our latest generative models to also help with the challenge of misinformation.”

That’s certainly a start, but we’ve seen how those same bad actors are highly capable when it comes to circumventing such roadblocks. The “guardrails” are a bit hand-wavy, and sharing solely with partners works only so long as the model doesn’t leak — as they tend to. Watermarking is a good path to pursue as well, of course, but so far most approaches to that have been defeated by trivial edits like cropping, resizing, and other minor manipulations to the watermarked media.

Google demonstrated a lot of AI capabilities today both new and familiar, but whether and how they will be both useful and safe is kind of still a mystery. But giving someone like Manyika (a researcher himself) stage time at their biggest event to say “wow, this could be bad so we’re doing this and that, who knows if it will work” is at least a fairly honest way to approach the problem.

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Viral: English Translation Of Jana Gana Mana By Rabindranath Tagore - News18 - Translation

‘Universal translator’ dubs and lip-syncs speakers – but Google warns against misuse - TechCrunch - Translation

Google is testing a powerful new translation service that redubs video in a new language while also synchronizing the speaker’s lips with words they never spoke. It could be very useful for a lot of reasons, but the company was upfront about the possibility of abuse and the steps taken to prevent it.

“Universal Translator” was shown off at Google I/O during a presentation by James Manyika, who heads up the company’s new “Technology and Society” department. It was offered as an example of something only recently made possible by advances in AI, but simultaneously presenting serious risks that have to be reckoned with from the start.

The “experimental” service takes an input video, in this case a lecture from an online course originally recorded in English, transcribes the speech, translates it, regenerates the speech (matching style and tone) in that language, and then edits the video so that the speaker’s lips more closely match the new audio.

So it’s basically a deepfake generator, right? Yes, but the technology that’s used for malicious purposes elsewhere has genuine utility. There are actually companies that do this kind of thing right now in the media world, redubbing lines in post-production for any of a dozen reasons. (The demo was impressive, but it must be said the tech still has a way to go.)

But those tools are professional ones being made available in a strict media workflow, not a checkbox on a YouTube upload page. Neither is Universal Translator — yet — but if it is ever to be so, Google needs to reckon with the possibility of it being used to create disinformation or other unforeseen hazards.

Manyika called this a “tension between boldness and safety,” and striking a balance can be difficult. But clearly it can’t just be released widely for anyone to use with no restrictions. Yet the benefits — for example, making an online course available in 20 languages without subtitles or re-recording — are undeniable.

“This is an enormous step forward for learning comprehension, and we’re seeing promising results in course completion rates,” Manyika said. “But there’s an inherent tension here: Some of the same underlying technology could be misused by bad actors to create deepfakes. So we built the service with guardrails to prevent misuse, and we make it accessible only to authorized partners. Soon we’ll be integrating new innovations in watermarking into our latest generative models to also help with the challenge of misinformation.”

That’s certainly a start, but we’ve seen how those same bad actors are highly capable when it comes to circumventing such roadblocks. The “guardrails” are a bit hand-wavy, and sharing solely with partners works only so long as the model doesn’t leak — as they tend to. Watermarking is a good path to pursue as well, of course, but so far most approaches to that have been defeated by trivial edits like cropping, resizing, and other minor manipulations to the watermarked media.

Google demonstrated a lot of AI capabilities today both new and familiar, but whether and how they will be both useful and safe is kind of still a mystery. But giving someone like Manyika (a researcher himself) stage time at their biggest event to say “wow, this could be bad so we’re doing this and that, who knows if it will work” is at least a fairly honest way to approach the problem.

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The Allsopp name still reigns in lexicography: UG launches first Caribbean English school dictionary - News Room Guyana - Dictionary

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On Rabindranath Tagore`s birth anniversary, the poet`s English translation of Jana Gana Mana goes viral - WION - Translation

India celebrates Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagrore's birth anniversary on May 9. The prolific writer and song composer is the only poet whose songs were adapted as national anthems by two countries- India and Bangladesh. The Indian national anthem- Jana Gana Mana was originally composed by Tagore in 1911. The anthem only takes a few verses from the song Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata. The original song has five verses of which only the first stanza has been adapted as India's national anthem. 

To mark Tagore's 162nd birth anniversary, the official social media handle of the Nobel Prize organisation shared a rare image of the translated manuscript of the Indian national anthem. The script reportedly was written by Tagore himself. The original song, that we all know now, is in Bangla. 

The image has received an overwhelming response, with many expressing appreciation for the post.

“Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India, originally composed in Bengali by poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was awarded the #NobelPrize in Literature in 1913. Pictured: An English translation of Jana Gana Mana by Tagore,” reads the caption alongside the picture shared on Twitter.

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The timeless image has Tagore's handwritten note - and the English translation of Jana Gana Mana - titled as The Morning Song Of India.

About Rabindranath Tagore and Rabindra Jayanti 

Each year, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore is celebrated with great fervour, especially among the Bengali community across the world. The day, known as Rabindra Jayanti, has become a cultural celebration, where the poet's works are sung and recited. 

Various schools, colleges, and universities organise cultural programmes and events such as poetry recitations, dances, and drama competitions on this day.

Born in 1861 to an affluent Zamindar family in Bengal, Tagore was mostly self-taught and homeschooled. He published his first work at the age of sixteen.

Tagore was not just a poet and songwriter but also a novelist and a playwright. He also delved in painting and sketching and established the Vishwa Bharati University in Shantiniketan. In 1913, he became the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetry collection, Gitanjali, which was first composed in Bengali and then translated into English.

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